TOM GOT along tolerably well with the Middletons. They had found out that it was necessary to give him his own way, for he was sure to obtain it sooner or later in a way that annoyed them. They were obliged to considerably improve their frugal table, but after all there was a handsome profit in Tom’s board, and besides, they fared better themselves.

At the end of every month Nathan rode over to Centerville, twelve miles distant, and collected eighty-three dollars and thirty-four cents for Tom’s board. He might have waited for a check, but he was afraid it might be delayed, and besides, he had a chance to combine a little insurance business with his other errand.

So it happened that one October day he stopped his horse before the office of Ephraim Sharp, attorney-at-law, who had charge of Tom’s property. With a pleasant smile, he entered the office and greeted the attorney, who was sitting at a desk, his brow knit with care.

“How do you do, Mr. Sharp?” said Nathan. “Fine morning!”

“Is it?” said the lawyer abruptly. “I hadn’t time to think of the weather.”

“You see the month brings me round,” said Nathan. “Tom’s very well.”

“And you want that money for his board I suppose?”

“Well, I don’t mind telling you that it will be convenient,” answered Nathan, rubbing his hands with the pleased look of a man who is to receive money.

“Sit down, Mr. Middleton,” said the lawyer. “I am glad you have come over; I want to talk to you.”

“I hope he won’t propose to take Tom away from me,” thought Mr. Middleton, a little nervously. It occurred to him that Tom might have written to Mr. Sharp expressing a desire to leave Plympton. Yet that seemed hardly likely, for his young ward had appeared quite contented.

“I wish to speak to you about Tom’s property,” Mr. Sharp begun.

Mr. Middleton pricked up his ears and assumed a look of deep attention. He hoped the lawyer had got tired of his trust and wanted to resign the charge of the property to him, in which case he could charge a nice commission.

“I believe I told you on the occasion of my first visit that Tom’s fortune amounted to forty thousand dollars.”

“And a very nice, ample property,” murmured Mr. Middleton.

“But when it came into my charge it was invested in a way that seemed to me injudicious. For instance, Mr. Temple, Tom’s father, lent ten thousand dollars to a New York merchant, with absolutely no security—a very unbusiness-like proceeding.”

“Extremely so,” said Mr. Middleton.

“The merchant was a personal friend, and that was no doubt the motive that influenced Mr. Temple. Well, the merchant has failed, and his assets are next to nothing—possibly he may pay five cents on a dollar.”

“Shocking!” exclaimed Nathan, who almost felt it a personal loss.

“We may as well count it a total loss. That is not all. Fifteen thousand dollars were invested in Western mining shares, which my late friend was induced to buy in the hope of making unheard-of dividends. For a time prospects were flattering, but investigations which I have been quietly making during the last three months satisfy me that they are little short of worthless. That’s fifteen thousand dollars more gone.”

“Good gracious!” exclaimed Nathan dismally, for he saw that his young boarder would no longer be able to pay the handsome rate of board he had thus far received.

“That isn’t all,” said the lawyer.

“What, more losses?” groaned Nathan.

“I am sorry to answer in the affirmative. The remainder of the money, that is, all but a few hundred dollars, was invested in an assorted cargo, sent in conjunction with an old friend in trade, as a mercantile venture to India. I received tidings yesterday that the vessel—the Harbinger—is lost.”

“But the insurance?” suggested Nathan eagerly. “That can be recovered.”

“It will be contested, and probably cannot be recovered. Some of the conditions of safety, it is alleged, were violated.”

“Then Tom has lost all his fortune,” said Mr. Middleton in consternation.

“It is more than likely,” answered the lawyer gravely.

“It is a terrible misfortune,” said Nathan, wiping his forehead with his red silk handkerchief. But he thought rather of the loss to himself than to Tom.

“Of course we must make some different arrangements for him.”

“You said something was left, didn’t you?” inquired Nathan.

“Yes; a few hundred dollars.”

“That will pay his board a few months longer.”

“And leave him penniless at the end! My dear sir, do you imagine he is in a situation to pay twenty dollars a week for board?”

“I might take him for a little less,” said Nathan reluctantly.

“It would have to be a great deal less. These four hundred dollars—possibly five—are all that the boy is sure of. They must be husbanded. My idea is, that he should be sent to a cheap boarding-school for a year, or else begin to learn some business at once. Under the changed circumstances five dollars a week must be the limit charged for his board.”

“I should lose money if I took him for that,” said Nathan. “Besides I am sure Mrs. Middleton would not consent. He really has a great appetite, and he is very dainty about his victuals. Really you would be surprised to know how much my expenses are increased by his becoming a member of my family.”

“He is a growing boy. I can readily believe that he is hearty.”

“And he gives a great deal of trouble.”

“I told you when you agreed to take him that he was not a model boy. I had no doubt he would give you trouble.”

“He is very headstrong, and I really could not stand it unless—unless it was made worth my while.”

“No doubt. Well, I don’t think it best that he should stay in Plympton. He can’t afford to pay you enough to make up for the trouble he will cause. I think it will be best that you send him at once to me.”

“I’ll send him to-morrow,” said Nathan promptly, “but about the board due for the last month?” he inquired with anxiety.

“That shall be paid. Where is your bill?”

“I have got it here,” said Nathan, considerably relieved. “The board comes to eighty-three dollars and thirty-four cents. Then I have spent five dollars and fifty-six cents besides for books, and I have charged fifty cents for a pane of glass which Tom broke in my kitchen window—altogether, eighty-nine dollars and forty cents.”

“I will hand you a check for that amount and three dollars besides, which you may give to Tom for traveling expenses.”

Nathan received the money with mingled joy and regret, the latter feeling being roused by the thought that it was the last money he would receive on Tom’s account.

“And he’s a beggar after all,” said Nathan to himself as he rode homeward. “Who would have thought it? It’ll take down a little of his independence, I reckon. I ain’t sorry as far as he’s concerned. His pride deserves to have a fall. But it’ll be a terrible loss to me.”